STOCKS RALLY TO NEW ALL-TIME HIGH: Here's What You Need To Know

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The incredible bull run in stocks continued. US markets spent the day in the green, but gave up much of the day's rally during the final hour of today's half day of trading. At the end, the Dow closed at a new high. The S&P 500 closed marginally in the red.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow: 18,030.2, +6.1, (+0.0%)

S&P 500: 2,081.8, -0.2, (-0.0%)

Nasdaq: 4,773.4, +8.0, (+0.1%)

And now, the top stories:

1. The US markets set new intraday highs today. The S&P 500 got as high as 2,087.56. The Dow got as high as 18,086.24.

2. Initial weekly unemployment claims fell to 280,000 from 289,000 a week ago. This was lower than the 290,000 expected by economists. The 4-week moving average declined to 290,250 from 298,750 a week ago. "Labor market separations remain at very low levels, and we look for continuing improvement as seasonal effects filter through the data in the coming weeks," Barclays' Jesse Hurwitz said.

3. "Incredibly unemployment claims at 280K are lower now than they were at any time during the housing bubble year economic expansion years 2004 to 2006," Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Chris Rupkey noted. "The Greenspan Fed judged 280K unemployment claims back then showed an overheating economy requiring a 5% Fed funds rate. Yellen was there at the Fed voting for rate hikes back then, but today she is keeping the rate at 0.25%."

4. Sony announced that it would release "The Interview" online. It'll be available on Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft's Xbox Video, and SeetheInterview.com at 1:00 p.m. ET today. As previously announced, it'll be released in more than 300 US theaters on December 25.

5. The stock markets will be closed Thursday for Christmas. See you Friday!